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For fans of a certain vintage, Aberdeen will forever be the club that in the early eighties broke the Old Firm dominance in Scottish football as well as beating Real Madrid in the Cup Winners’ Cup final. It was a team led by a manager who would go on to achieve legendary status elsewhere – Alex Ferguson – and made up of players who had been developed within the club.

Indeed, of the sixteen players that played in that glorious European final, twelve had come through the ranks: Jim Leighton, Doug Rougvie, Alex McLeish, Willie Miller, John McMaster, Neale Cooper, Neil Simpson, Eric Black, Bryan Gunn, Andy Watson, Ian Angus and John Hewitt.

Following Ferguson’s departure, the club slowly went into decline but it never lost its tradition for producing good players.

This season Aberdeen are once again challenging for honours but, regardless of what happens in the next few months, the club looks to have a bright future ahead of it. Having looked at what European’s top clubs are doing to develop talent, they have re-engineered their youth set-up to ensure that the flow of talent is even more consistent in the future.The full article can be read on Blueprint for Future.